The Story of the Automatic Tea Brewer

Here is a peek behind the scenes at CC Fine Tea; the story behind our Automatic Tea Brewer!

Have you ever gotten distracted, not noticed the alarm from your steeping timer, and over-steeped your tea? Skill and focus are both required to brew a good pot of tea. If the leaf to water ratio is incorrect, or if the steep time is wrong, the results can be underwhelming.

Inspiration for the Auto Brewer

Jason Chen, who founded CC Fine Tea in 1997, is familiar with the problem of brew timing. He developed the patented teaware design of the Automatic Tea Brewer to solve this very issue. The idea first formed over 18 years ago, when he was busy handling booths for his business at industry events. 

Jason’s tea brewing style at the time was based on the traditional Taiwanese gongfu cha method. Taiwanese Gongfu cha requires three main pieces of teaware:

1. Clay teapot
2. Strainer
3. Porcelain or glass serving pitcher

It was difficult to balance conversation with multiple potential customers while skillfully brewing tea for samples. He needed a way to simplify the process. But how to do it without sacrificing either the quality of the tea or the beauty of the teaware?

Stacked Design, Hands-Free Release

The first step was to combine all three pieces from Taiwanese gongfu cha into a single, stacked set. This minimizes the amount of space required for brewing.

Jason merged the teapot and the filter together. The result was a lidded brewing vessel with a mesh filter and a small, precisely sized hole in the bottom. This brewing vessel stacks on top of the serving pitcher, allowing a standard, timed release of tea liquor. 

Unlike other stacked brewers, there is no button to push or rotation step to separate the water from the leaves. Thus, regardless of the experience or distraction of the user, the tea is perfectly brewed every time.

Tea Ratios and Brew Timing

With the concept for the Automatic Tea Brewer in place, the next challenge arose: a one-size-fits-all method for brewing all categories of tea. After a year of testing, Jason determined an ideal standard timing and leaf-to-water ratio for all tea types, from High Mountain Oolong to Ripe Pu-Erh. That is: 

• 12 fluid ounces of water
• 2.5 minute brew time
• 1 tablespoon of tea leaves

Note: 1 tablespoon is roughly equivalent to 4 grams of black or green tea, or 7 grams of dense leaves such as rolled oolongs.

Manufacturing the Auto Brewer

Lastly, there was the challenge of manufacturing the design in high-quality, sturdy porcelain. For about three years, Jason struggled to find a manufacturer. Some companies took the initial production deposit money, but could not produce a sample product. Others provided samples of the brewer, but the quality was unacceptable. 

It took false starts with over five manufacturers for Jason to find the right company to partner with. The answer lay in the city of Dehua, China. Dehua has been the center of high-quality porcelain since the Song dynasty, over 700 years ago. Finally, the Automatic Tea Brewer could be produced with the necessary reliability and attention to detail.

Success! The Auto Brewer is Born!

The design was patented in 2001, and CC Fine Tea was ready to introduce the Auto Brewer to the world. In 2002, the new teaware won design awards in Taiwan, as well as at the NYC Fancy Food Show. 

Today, Jason Chen’s dream of a simple way to enjoy loose-leaf tea has become a reality. The innovative Automatic Tea Brewer helps tea lovers of all skill levels brew delicious tea, easily and elegantly.

Thanks for reading the story of the Automatic Tea Brewer! Happy sipping.

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